1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to an internal combustion engine and control assembly in which a compression ratio of the engine may be varied.
2. Related Art
The operating performance of an internal combustion engine is affected by, inter alia, a compression ratio in each of the engine's cylinders. One of ordinary skill in the art understands that the compression ratio is the ratio of the maximum volume to the minimum volume in the cylinder of the engine. In general, engines with higher compression ratios operate more efficiently than engines with lower compression ratios, whereas engines with lower compression ratios produce more power than engines with higher compression ratios. Since in most engines, the compression ratio is a fixed number that can only be changed by extensively modifying certain features of the internal combustion engine, most engine manufacturers are forced to make a choice between optimizing efficiency or power or compromising each when designing the internal combustion engine.
Attempts have been made at producing an internal combustion engine which has a variable compression ratio to allow the engine to operate at peak efficiency but also to be able to produce increased power when demanded. However, current variable compression ratio systems are complicated to control, expensive to produce and may lack durability over the life of the engine.